Cruise Ships - Meyer Werft

As one of the world’s largest shipyards for cruise ships, Meyer Werft has been building innovative cruise ships for decades. Freudenberg e-Power Systems began a strategic partnership with Meyer in 2019 to work towards developing climate-neutral cruise ships. This has included collaborating on several projects, including the research activities for Pa-X-ell 2 and HyCruisE. 

Meyer has identified fuel cell systems as having the potential to outperform modern combustion engines in several crucial aspects for cruise ships. While being carbon-neutral and less noisy, they are also more efficient and offer reduced maintenance, helping to contribute to the best total cost of ownership.

For cruise ships, hydrogen-powered fuel cell systems offer highly efficient propulsion as well as power for all other systems on board, eliminating the need for internal combustion engines. As hydrogen poses challenges for transportation and storage due to its volumetric energy density, a maritime fuel cell system with an integrated reformer is a viable solution. 

Depending on the specific configuration, such a system can run on methanol or liquified natural gas (LNG), and when methanol is produced on a sustainable pathway, for example with the help of green electricity and captured CO2, a fully climate-neutral operation is possible. Whether the system runs on pure hydrogen, methanol or LNG, our maritime fuel cell systems provide maximized fuel efficiency combined with true heavy-duty lifetimes.

More Passenger Cabins

We develop fuel cell systems designed to provide the best total cost of ownership by meeting the high demands of reliability, fuel efficiency, and operational lifetime. With our integrated fuel reforming technology, shipyards and fleet operators can benefit from the smallest fuel tank installations used with sustainable fuels. As an added benefit, fuel cell technology removes the need for expensive and space-consuming auxiliary systems, such as exhaust gas treatment, ad-blue pumps, pilot fuel systems or oil-slip systems. Our maritime systems with integrated fuel reforming hybridized with a small battery system result in impressive space savings, freeing up areas for more passenger cabins, ultimately increasing revenue potential to benefit the total cost of ownership. Together with Meyer, we are taking cruise ships towards a more sustainable future.